Tire pressure. Driving a car with underinflated tires is like running laps with 5-pound weights strapped to each leg. Underinflated tires can sap 4% to 10% out of a car's potential gas mileage, says John Frala, associate professor of advanced transportation at Rio Hondo College in Whittier, Calif.The correct tire pressure, which might be different for front and rear tires, is found in a car's owner's manual. Sometimes it's pasted inside the glove box door or attached to a door frame. Check the pressure when the tires are cold. When replacing tires, try to buy a new set with the least amount of rolling resistance, Frala says.

WASHINGTON  Gasoline prices could rise as much as 20 cents in the next few weeks as the price at the pump catches up with the recent surge in oil costs, the head of the Energy Department's analytical arm said Monday.

Oil prices have risen approximately $20 a barrel in the past two months. Retail gasoline costs have increased about 30 cents a gallon in that time. The agency's models suggest gas prices will likely rise another 20 cents in the next two or three weeks to fully reflect the jump in oil costs, Caruso told reporters.

A few factors are helping to keep gas prices from jumping along with oil. Europe's gasoline inventories are fairly high, providing a cushion to world supplies. And U.S. gasoline demand softens in the fall and winter, helping "mute the price increase," Caruso said.

Monday, the average U.S. price for a gallon of regular was $3.101, up 88 cents or 39% from a year ago, motorist club AAA said. Average prices were at or above $3 in 39 states and in Washington, D.C.

There was some good news on the energy front Monday as oil prices fell on hopes that OPEC members will soon pledge to increase production. Reductions in OPEC production in recent years are partly to blame for the high oil prices, Caruso said.

The price of a barrel of light, sweet crude trading for delivery in December fell $1.70, or 1.8%, to $94.62. Oil prices are up 62% from a year ago.

Thus far, the U.S. government has gotten no indication from OPEC members that they plan to boost production in the near-term, said Karen Harbert, assistant secretary in the office of policy and international affairs at the Energy Department. Harbert said the administration has "regular conversations with all producing countries," but declined to elaborate.

Consumers are not only being hit by above-average gasoline prices, but also they're expected to see record-high heating bills this winter, according to the EIA.

Officials who oversee state programs that provide energy aid to low-income consumers expect they'll have to reduce the number of households served by approximately 15% this winter, according to research conducted by the National Energy Assistance Directors Association to be released to Congress Tuesday. The combination of higher energy prices and relatively stagnant federal funding for the programs are forcing the states to cut the number of families served, the NEADA says.

Last year, approximately 5.8 million households received government energy assistance, with an average grant of $305, according to the NEADA.

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